


To Live and Die in New England

by Supernatural_reference98



Category: Supernatural
Genre: Enemies to Lovers, Gang AU, M/M, Slow Burn, Work In Progress, eventually
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2020-11-18
Updated: 2020-11-19
Packaged: 2021-03-09 22:22:00
Rating: Not Rated
Warnings: Graphic Depictions Of Violence, Major Character Death
Chapters: 1
Words: 3,218
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/27623330
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Supernatural_reference98/pseuds/Supernatural_reference98
Summary: The notorious gang "The Hell-Riders" are encroaching on the "Archangels"' territory, so Castiel "The Wraith" Novak, the youngest son of the head of the Archangels is sent on a mission to find and eliminate Dean "The Demon" Winchester who is said to be in charge of the Hell-Riders. Things escalate, nothing is as it seems and Castiel is forced to re-evaluate every virtue and feeling he doesn't have.
Relationships: Castiel (Supernatural)/Original Male Character(s), Castiel/Dean Winchester
Kudos: 1





	To Live and Die in New England

**Author's Note:**

> This is the first chapter to a (possibly) long story that I have not finished yet. I know where I want to take things but I still need to actually get things on paper. So, disclaimer: I might take a while to upload. I just thought I'd get this first chapter out there and hope for some comments and feedback to fuel my motivation with.

_“Have you ever been on a plane at night?“ Castiel is the last person at the club. He has been eyeing the bartender all night and finally came up with a way to start the conversation. The bouncer had tried to kick him out, but the bartender had wanted him to stay._

_“Yeah.“ The bartender answers, shooting him a quick smile while he wipes the counter. Castiel helpfully lifts his glass._

_“You know that moment when the stewardess wakes you up because you will be landing soon? I like having the window seat then. Looking out you can actually see the earth coming closer. That moment when you're high enough that you can still see pretty far, but low enough that you can actually see the individual lights. The cities and villages are like clusters of light-dots then, connected by a single street, and sometimes not connected at all. Some lights are blinking, some lights could be moving but you're not sure, you're not close enough to see that yet.“_

_“It is pretty breathtaking.”_

_“I sometimes wish I could stay there forever. Watching the lights. I imagine I could see the cities grow, the light spreading like a rash, threatening to take over the world.” Castiel runs his index finger along his empty glass, watching as the bartender cleans his workplace._

_“That's a dark way to look at it. I think it looks quite beautiful.”_

_“That, too, I guess. It's what humanity is though: A disease that will soon destroy this beautiful planet.”_

_“You're pretty messed up, man.” The bartender laughs and pours Castiel another drink._

_“That okay?” Castiel asks and downs the shot before sliding off his booth._

_“Sure.” The bartender smiles at Castiel._

_They leave together._

It was a weird first conversation. Castiel is a weird person though, and Alex – the bartender – seems to like him for his quirks. They spend the night together, exchange numbers and just hit it off after that. They click in a way that Castiel has never clicked with anyone before and they could not be happier together.

At least that's what he tells the old lady next door, who seems awfully interested in their private life. He tells that to his only friend from college, and Balthazar jokes he will have to come around to meet that mystery guy that made “a good man” out of Castiel. All of it is a lie though. The relationship, the feelings, the happiness.

Well, at least in Castiel's eyes. Alex is boring and incapable of keeping a conversation going. He's easy on the eyes and the sex is great, but other than that... Alex works out a lot, works his job at the club, and he's in an unsuccessful one-man-band. That's about it. He's as dumb as he is pretty, and if it weren't for his alternate motives, Castiel would never spend another day with him.

The sole reason for Castiel's interest is the club that Alex works at, the New England. It's a front. While the customers drink and dance in the front-room, the back is occupied by one of the most dangerous gangs in the West. They allegedly have people scattered all across the country, but this city is where their base is.

“They” in this case means the Hell-Riders, a gang that formed when two powerful families were united by the marriage of Mary Campbell and John Winchester. They had two kids before Mary died in a shootout, leaving John to raise their sons. This much Castiel knows. Everything else is just rumors and stories, each of them less likely than the first.

The younger Winchester, Sam, went on to study law, or medicine, or management, possibly all three at the same time. He's said to be as brilliant as he is deadly, making him a perfect second to the elder brother, Dean - or as people call him – the Demon. The Demon is a lucid figure, it is said that no member of another gang ever saw him and lived to tell the tale. Sometimes Castiel isn't even sure whether or not he actually exists. If he does, which is a strong possibility, he is known for his merciless brutality, his ingenuity in getting information, and his brilliance in helping the gang grow after his old man died.

Castiel does not know what happened to John Winchester. Some say he drank himself to death when the boys were still kids; some say Dean strangled him in his sleep. Some say things that are way, way worse.

Either way, Castiel was tasked with locating Dean Winchester, getting to know him, becoming one of his minions so that he can feed back information to his own gang, the Archangels.

Thinking about it, Castiel is not sure which gang name he finds more irritating. Just like the Winchester brothers he was born into this and even though he had no choice in joining the gang he has made it his goal to become their most valuable member. Being the youngest of six children he always felt like he had to compete with them. And he's bested them all.

He is smarter than Raphael, more charming than Anna, more cunning than Michael. Only Gabriel comes close to being as resilient as Castiel, and Castiel only falls short behind Lucifer, who has killed more people than Castiel can keep track of. He sees that as a win, too, though. He tolerates the bloodshed and he cherishes the thrill of it. Blindly slaughtering everyone that steps in his way is neither his style, nor does it live up to his reputation.

He is the Wraith, coming only for those who cross their leader and father, Zachariah. Him and Naomi picked Castiel for this job, trusting him in finding and eliminating the last thing that is standing between the Archangels and inviolability.

He has tried to be careful, going for what he assumed would be low-hanging fruit. It was easy enough, getting Alex to like him. Hell, Castiel is pretty sure Alex fell in love with him. Not the real him, of course. Teacher-him. Nice him. The man Castiel could have been if only he had not been born into a gang and raised to be a criminal. Castiel lured Alex in, spent time with him, gained his trust and... Nothing. Alex knows nothing about the gang’s activities, or if he does, he hides it well.

It's so frustrating, it's almost funny. Zachariah does not think so though, so Castiel has to come up with something soon. He has been thinking about a different way to approach the situation for the better part of an hour and he has not come up with anything.

Trying to charm anyone else in the club is out of the picture, the people there know him, know he's with Alex. Maybe Alex does know something after all. Maybe Castiel has not been asking the right questions. It's the same thought that's been circling in Castiel's mind for hours now. _What if Alex does know something?_ There's nothing incriminating in his flat though, Castiel has searched it on numerous occasions.

Castiel turns to his side and looks to the sleeping person next to him. Alex's face is relaxed, calm. His head is tilted to the side and Castiel can't help but think how easy it would be to just slit his throat right here and now. That wouldn't help anyone though, and even though he is so over this relationship, the thought of Alex's blood on his hands fills him with disgust.

Alex scares him sometimes. Not in the way a gun to your forehead does, Castiel can handle the guns.

Emotions are scary, even the fake ones. They make you vulnerable.

Alex is not much of a talker and Castiel isn't much of a listener, but for some reason Castiel has shared some thoughts with Alex. Real thoughts. It's the quiet moments that are the worst. They make Castiel open up - and when he does some truth leaks out.

“What happened to you?” Alex asked once. Castiel doesn't remember what exactly he had told him, but he does remember feeling like Alex looked right into his soul.

Maybe he is not as dumb as he is pretty after all.

_Click._

Castiel sits up carefully, looking to the door. The footsteps in the hallway are softened by the carpet, but he hears them anyway. A break-in.

Within a moment, Castiel is out of the bed and next to the door, holding the knife he had taped under the bed frame. A quick glance to Alex proves he is still fast asleep, his bare chest rising and falling evenly. The door to the bathroom is opened, Castiel recognizes it by the faint creaking noise. One man, about Alex's weight, looking for something.

Without a noise, Castiel opens the door and slips into the hallway. The sharp edge of his blade is pressed to the man's throat before he even notices the newly opened door. It’s his favorite knife, sharp enough to cut through flesh like butter. It was made especially for him, the blade is just long enough to do real damage when stabbing someone, and the handle and blade are weighted so that it can be thrown precisely.

“What are you doing here, Moses?” Castiel's voice is quiet but sharp. He will use his knife if he does not like the answer. To prove this point, Castiel presses the blade into the man's skin, cutting him just so.

“Zachariah sent me. He wants to question your boy-toy.” Moses answers quietly, flinching as Castiel quickly cuts him across the cheek. “His words, not mine. Please, Sir I am here on the boss' orders.”

“Fine.” Castiel steps back and Moses lets out an audible sigh of relief. “Fine.” Castiel repeats himself. “Make it look real. I don't want this to blow up all my work.” Castiel says and slightly turns his head so Moses will know which side of his face to punch.

“Sir, my order...” One look at Castiel and Moses' protest dies. “Yes, Sir.” He says and punches Castiel in the face. The force of it makes Castiel's head turn, but he doesn't stumble and even as blood starts dripping from his nose he grins at Moses. “Oh, come on. Is that all you got?” He taunts and Moses punches him again. _That'll bruise._ Castiel thinks, satisfied.

“Put a bag over his head, tie us both to chairs before you take it off. I'll be waiting in the car.” Castiel says, sticks the knife into his belt, and leaves Moses to deal with Alex by himself.

It's a long drive, and the warehouse that Moses takes them to seems abandoned. Alex tries to struggle at first, but gives up when he realizes it is to no avail. Moses waits until he has both men tied to chairs before he takes off the bag over Alex's head. Alex's mouth is taped shut, but his eyes snap open and he immediately starts struggling again, even as he is taking in his surroundings. Castiel doesn't have to pretend to flinch when Moses strikes Alex across the face with the back of his hand.

“Don't, please. We don’t have any money, we can’t…” Castiel pretends to beg and only stops when Moses strikes him, too. For some reason that seems to upset Alex even more and Castiel feels a wave of pride flood through him. The man is in love with him. He spits blood just as Moses tears the tape off Alex's mouth.

“We know you are associated with the Hell-Riders. It is up to you how much pain you and your lover are going to be in, but I assure you that you will talk. So why not make it easier for you?” Moses says calmly as he pulls a small knife from his belt.

“What? No, please. Please.” Alex continues to struggle harder, rocking the chair as he fails to escape. Castiel can see the panic in his eyes. “You have the wrong guy. I don't know anything. I don't know anything!” His last word ends in a chocked off whine as Moses stabs his thigh.

Castiel knows that the blade is not long enough to hit any main arteries but he flinches anyway. Alex doesn't deserve this.

Castiel stays quiet. He stays quiet as Moses works his knife, even cutting Castiel once or twice, just to try and get a different response out of Alex. He stays quiet through the beating, stays quiet even as Moses steps beside Castiel's chair and Lucifer himself comes into the room, carrying a much bigger blade. He stays quiet as Lucifer slides said blade across Alex's already bloody chest. But then – Lucifer is about the stab Alex in the stomach -

“That's enough!” Castiel's voice bellows through the empty factory and Lucifer freezes mid swing. Alex whimpers, his gaze searching Castiel's. His left eye is swollen shut and there is a deep cut under it, his lip is split and there is blood pooling under his chair. Castiel doesn't even know where it's coming from anymore.

“What was that, Cassandra?” Lucifer's voice is taunting as he steps towards Castiel, switching the blade from his right to his left hand. “It'll be enough when I say it's enough. You failed. Your mission is over. I'm in charge now.”

“Fuck off, Lucifer. He doesn't know anything. Look at him!” Castiel doesn't mean to raise his voice as he nods to Alex whose head has fallen to his chest as he is passed out.

Lucifer turns and lets out an annoyed shout. “No, no, no, no. We don't get to sleep through the best part, we're not done here.” He punches Alex in the face, knocking his head back, likely giving him a concussion. Alex doesn't wake up.

“Stop it.” Castiel says, easily undoing Moses' knots tying him to the chair.

“ _Stop it_.” Lucifer mocks Castiel's voice, dangling the knife over Alex's eye. “What's wrong, Cassandra? You in loooove?” He obnoxiously draws out the last word and Castiel has had it. He casually gets out of his chair, pulls the knife he still has in his belt and throws it at Lucifer. It buries itself in his older brother's shoulder, prompting Lucifer to turn around abruptly.

Castiel easily dodges the knife flying back at him as he goes for the weapon that he knows Moses is carrying. He cocks the gun and aims it right at Lucifer's face. “I said that's enough.” Moses turns on his heels to leave the scene of what might just become a bloodbath.

Castiel smiles calmly, holding eye-contact even as Lucifer fumes. “How dare you assault me? This is my mission now, you will not take this from me. This is my kill!”

“Kill him then. No more torture. This is done. You will give me your knives, take this gun and shoot Alex instead. A quick and clean death. No more games.”

“What if I decide to shoot you instead?” Lucifer challenges, and Castiel’s smile widens.

“You can try. You better aim carefully though, you won't like what happens if you miss.”

Lucifer scrutinizes his expression, his stance. Castiel can practically see the cogs turning in his brain as Lucifer calculates his chances of winning this fight. Then he hands over his knives and obediently takes the gun from Castiel.

“That's what I thought.” Castiel says, as he goes to fetch his throwing knife and then adds: “You will go to New England and find me a new way into the gang. I want you reporting back to me until Monday.” It's a risky move, but Castiel turns his back to Lucifer and simply walks away. He has asserted his dominance and does not intend to show any weakness now.

It isn't until he has already left the warehouse that he hears two gunshots. Alex is dead, and Castiel does not feel anything. He really doesn't.

He convinces himself of that until the moment he steps back into Alex's apartment, fully realizing what went down this evening. He doesn't feel sad, not really anyway. He didn't particularly enjoy Alex's company and he doesn't think he will miss him, but Alex was a good guy and he did not deserve to be dragged into this.

Castiel wanders through the apartment and he feels guilty for the first time in years. He had planned to just grab his things and leave, but somehow he can't. It feels wrong, like he needs to honor Alex first.

He ends up sitting down by the piano, sliding his fingers over the ivory keys. Alex had inherited the beautiful instrument from his great-grandmother, who was also the reason Alex was so into music. Even though his one-man band did not work out, Castiel had to admit he actually enjoyed Alex's singing voice. He takes out his phone, searches for an audio file and presses play. Alex's voice sounds through the otherwise quiet apartment.

_Moving out west, things got lonely  
Trying my best, nobody showed me  
Which way to go, I didn't know  
  
Hating my past, I found the old me  
Bullet proof vest, my only clothing  
Hiding alone, a prison is home_  
  


Castiel remembers the first time he listened to this song, it's one of the few songs that Alex recorded and produced. Castiel is sure he is the only person that actually listened to it, Alex didn't have any friends or family that Castiel knew of.

_Just a man’s make up, fake love, make 'em all laugh  
Come on, someone, take off your mask  
It's nice to meet  
  
Honey what you done, come from, escaping so fast?  
We’re from dungeons; Alcatraz  
It's nice to meet._

It makes Castiel sad to think that he was everything Alex did not want in his life. Masks and fake love ended up killing Alex.  
  
Castiel doesn't feel sad about Alex's death though.

He doesn't.

He clenches his jaw and ends the song. “You didn't deserve this.” He mumbles, and it's the only apology Alex is going to get. It's too little, too late, but any more wouldn't change the situation either. Castiel gets up and starts packing the few things he had left in this apartment. This part of his life is over.

He returns to his own apartment, not intending to report back to anyone the next day. He doesn't talk to any of his family members, not until Gabriel practically knocks his door down.

“You fucked up, Cassie, you really fucked up this time.” Gabriel leaves the door wide open as he barges in, and places an open package on his kitchen table.

Castiel sighs and shuts the door before paying any attention to Gabriel. “What happened?” He asks matter-of-factly and Gabriel nods to the package.

“See for yourself.” He says ominously and Castiel pulls the package towards him.

Inside is Lucifer's head, smiling up at Castiel, two bullet holes where his eyes should be.

“This was in his mouth.” Gabriel says when Castiel closes the package. He reaches him a crumpled piece of paper, and Castiel feels a thrilling wave of excitement as he reads the neatly written words.

**Nice try.**

Then a crudely-drawn smiley-face with its eyes crossed out.

The Demon does not like anyone snooping about his gang.

**Author's Note:**

> The song is Alcatraz by Oliver Riot. Check it out if you're into calm music.


End file.
